Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Why You Should Become a Winter Biker

An alternative response to the Trump presidency: become a winter biker.

Why you should become a winter biker.

1. It's fun. You get to ride your bike in the snow and on top of the ice. Everyday you go back to being a kid.

2. It's fast. Many days when the weather is ugly and the roads are a mess and cars are slipping, sliding, and clogging up the roads you can pass them with a smile as you pedal past them.

3. Parking is a breeze. Parking lots may be full, street parking may be dismal but parking a bike in the winter is no worry. But if all the bike spots are taken then just shove your bike in the snow and put a sign on it that says, "Please do not steal this bike because if you do I will be forced to pray that you have uncontrollable diarrhea and I dont want to do that." That should keep one refraining from taking your bike.

4. You do not have to warm up your bike. It can be 40 below no big deal your bike is ready to go as soon as you mount up and start pedaling. Added bonus you do not have to worry about polluting the environment by idling your automobile.

5. You do not have to scrape or deice your bike. Again, 40 below and everything else is covered in frost - big deal. Hop on your bike and start pedaling, no deicing, no scraping, no nothing, instant riding.

6. It's a workout. When the streets are a mess and the ice and the snow and the sand and the salt are as thick as oatmeal it is a workout to keep you and your bike vertical. The energy and muscles involved in this workout cannot be duplicated by any core plan or machine at the local fitness center.

7. Instant warm-up. I play basketball one day a week, when I pedal up I arrive at the gym warmed up and ready to go. No hamstring pulls and sometimes I even make my first shot!

8. You realize the cold aint really that cold. 10 below looks cold when you run from your house to the car but when you bike in 10 below you realize it really aint that cold. In fact, after biking on 10 below day you realize that 10 above is actually pretty warm balmy.

9. Sights. You will see things you cannot see while driving: owls swooping down in front of you, kids playing in the snow, 1000s of lost gloves and mittens. Sounds: the silence of snow, the singing bush (there is a bush on 40th st that sings b/c of the 100s of chickadees that hang out there), ice cracking.

10. Mental/Emotional Health: It is guaranteed that everyday the new president will do something to make you want to pull your hair out with frustration and make you want to scream and kick and cuss. While those are proper outlets for your emotions why not pedal the emotions out instead? I find that a nice bike ride when I am mad or anxious can assuage my troubled soul. I find that after a bike ride I am in a better place to talk and listen to those I disagree with. The last thing we need is more division. We need to love the fear out of each other and it is hard to love when your heart is clamored with frustration, anxiety, and hate. AND by riding your bike you will have more energy for the fight ahead! With a free and light heart you can keep marching, keep resisting, keep reaching out, keep challenging, keep dreaming, keep imagining, keep on keeping on...